Former acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli defended President Donald Trump's use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport members of Tren de Aragua, Wednesday, calling the Venezuelan gang an arm of the Maduro regime.
Appearing on "American Agenda," on Newsmax, Cuccinelli said that the courts have no role in reviewing the president's authority under the act and that Trump was correct to declare the gang's presence in the United States as an invasion.
"The president's got a lot of good points here," Cuccinelli said. "There's only so much judges are allowed to do. People in America are kind of used to courts resolving everything. Courts don't get to decide everything. They don't get to decide how the executive, i.e., the president, executes executive power so long as he stays within the boundaries of the laws."
The 1798 law allows the president to detain and deport nationals of hostile foreign powers during wartime or national emergencies. Trump invoked the act to justify deportations of Tren de Aragua members, whom Cuccinelli characterized as agents of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
"This president declared by proclamation that Tren de Aragua had invaded this country, and they are not like any other gang, not even MS-13, which we've all talked about for literally decades," Cuccinelli said. "MS-13 was never an arm of the El Salvadoran government. Tren de Aragua is doing the bidding of the Maduro regime all over the Western Hemisphere, and that puts them in a very different posture than anybody else."
Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act has been challenged in court, with judges temporarily halting some deportations. However, Cuccinelli said he was confident that higher courts would uphold the policy.
"I would point out that the question of whether there's an invasion or not has been litigated all over this country," he said. "Four different courts of appeals have had cases since about 1990 addressing this question. All four of them said it was nonjustifiable. For nonlawyers, that means the courts have no role in deciding this. It is the president's decision."
On Wednesday, the Justice Department asked to postpone a court-ordered disclosure of information on deportation flights, arguing that releasing details could have "catastrophic" consequences, according to USA Today. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has reportedly continued deportation flights, even after a federal judge issued an order temporarily blocking removals.
Cuccinelli emphasized that Trump's approach eliminates due process for individuals classified under the Alien Enemies Act but argued that the law's criteria were met.
"President Trump quite wisely targeted them first for the use of the Alien Enemies Act because it does eliminate due process for people who fall under it in its unique conditions, which the president noted were met," he said.
As the legal battles continued, Cuccinelli predicted that higher courts would uphold the administration's actions.
"He has made a decision. He's acting on that decision," Cuccinelli said. "I'm quite confident as they go up the court of appeals ladder if you will, that they will be upheld in the D.C. Circuit or at least in the Supreme Court."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
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